2017 has been a year of change in my life. I have loved and lost, graduated, met new friends and lost old ones. I have moved on from high school and gained a couple ounces of independence. I have experienced new things, laughed and cried, but there are a few lessons 2017 has taught me which I look to carry on in the new year.

Lesson one, Highschool sucked. I don’t know if it was just me or not, but even though I thoroughly enjoyed high school much more than middle school, it still sucked in comparison to where I am now. So far, since graduating, my life has only gotten better and what I use to worry about is not important. College is cake- except for maybe a few subjects, but if it’s only two subjects out of eight that I’m worrying about as opposed to “i need this for graduation”, it’s not a bad deal. Highschool trapped me with people who I felt forced to be friends with as opposed to those I chose to be friends with (don’t get me wrong, I still have a few of those friends but some not so much) and college opened me up to making friends on my time, and not on the classes.

Lesson two, Worry About Yourself. I never really worried about others more than the usual- if they had a bad day, I worry, but I wouldn’t constantly nag in their business. The problem was I never worried about myself, and what I needed to feel at peace. Everyday i would find myself fulfilling obligations that truthfully were not important, I only made them important because they were my hobby- but hobbies can become work very easily. In 2018 I hope to work on that, and take time for myself as opposed to making myself work to meet a quota I set a year ago. I recently acquired my love for reading back, some fuzzy socks, bath bombs, popcorn and new movies. Those will be my new priorities when it comes to relaxation, and the hobby I use to trudge to do will come second. People can wait, what comes first in times of schoolwork and projects is myself and my happiness.

Lesson three, Be more appreciative. I did appreciate things people did for me, I appreciated my family and my friends, but over the past year it really hit me. Soon I will be in college, fending for myself. I will be responsible for my own well being and health, and I won’t have my family as close as I do now while attending community college once I hit university.

Lesson four, Don’t grow up too fast. I use to be eager to hit high school because middle school was hell. Then when I became a sophomore, I wanted to be a senior. As a senior, I started to realize that I would miss my school, and that feeling only increased on graduation evening. Now I am in my second semester at college and while I can not wait to go to university, I am trying to spend time appreciating where I am right now- in the warmth of my own home, with family, safe. Before you know it, you’re not with your family, you’re alone and living on your own terms and while the freedom is fun at first, it’s scary. I can’t wait for the freedom, but I am young enough to appreciate the life I have now and I am no longer in a rush to move on quicker than I have to.

Lesson five, Things will fall into place. Just a few weeks ago, I was worried about failing math, having to prolong my transfer into university, potentially losing opportunities, and being in debt thousands upon thousands of dollars. Now, I know my GPA is a 3.2 (not perfect, but pretty great considering some of my tests), and I may only have to take one class in the upcoming summer- not because I failed it, but because I want to. Things will fall into place, even if it takes time to realize it. It doesn’t do anyone good to stress out about it.

Work for your change. I have a lot of flaws, and the while the new year, new me! Mantra is cringey as all hell, it’s true. I don’t usually keep resolutions, but I need to this coming year. I need to work on my own self to better my relationships and my well being. The time has past for the excuse, “it’s just how I am, and I can’t change that”. I can change it, and I’ve done a good job going about it thus far. 2018 is the year of my positivity streak, much like it should be for everyone.